Page 59 of Empire of Death
“But you mentioned it before?—”
“Because I was delirious and selfish and insane,” I snapped. “Because I had a moment of weakness since you make me weak every time I look upon you. Because I easily forget what our circumstances really are when we’re together. Because in the euphoria you give me, I picture a life together…” I didn’t say the rest, didn’t tell her how I pictured her pregnant belly in my big hands, pictured her as queen while I served as her private guard, not her king. How I pictured us living together in that little villa with dragons soaring above the sky, having another chance at life. But those confessions would only hurt her, would only make this unavoidable separation more painful. Would only torture her, especially when she knew what I’d done. I didn’t have the right to say anything of that to her. “You need to let this go,Xivin.”
Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine, the tears continuing to grow as my words cut into her heart. “You know me, Callum,” she said with emotion in her throat. “And you know I never let anything go.”
I stepped away from her, feeling her grip me with her words and her heart. All I could do was turn away from her, withdraw my heart from her palm so she couldn’t squeeze it anymore. None of my fellow residents paid attention to me as I passed because they were preoccupied by the newcomer.
Lily followed me, and we walked past the funnel until we moved farther from the castle, the world starting to grow darker as we left the lights of the castle behind. I grabbed a dead branch from the side of the road, and with just a thought, I lit the end and turned it into a flaming torch.
Lily came to my side and eyed the torch before she looked at me again, but she didn’t ask how I’d conjured the flames.
With the torch in my hand farthest away from her, I walked us toward the forest.
“Where are we going?” she asked from my side.
“To show you the beauty I spoke of.”
“In there?” she asked, seeing some of the details of the forest from the flames.
“I know you don’t recognize it, but you’ve been here before.”
Her eyes took in the large trees that loomed over us as we followed the path between the trees. Subtle lights were in the distance, bioluminescent insects that lit up the darkness. It took her moments to figure it out. “Riviana Star…”
I nodded. “This is where the cults choose to live.”
“The cults?” she asked.
“Those that worshipXian…and worship me. Mortals.”
“Those choose to live here willingly?”
“Yes, but they aren’t like other mortals. The kind that don’t belong in a community, that feel no love for family or friends. That will stab you in the back as soon as they finish shaking your hand. Their appearance is easier to digest, but they’re just as vile as the monsters I showed you.”
We moved farther down the dark path into the forest, and after a ten-minute walk spent in silence, we came to a clearing between the trees. A large wooden house was built on a rise, and enormous wood piles were spread in a vast circle, all lit aflame to cast the clearing in a gray light.
I could feel the heat from where I stood, through my uniform and armor.
In the center was a large wooden figure, carefully carved from knives, a dedication to me—the god of the underworld.
In silence, Lily stared at the scene before her, a view completely different from the one in Riviana Star. Instead of fireflies and beautiful music from the heart of the tree, it was devoid of magic and light.
The front door to the house opened, and a woman appeared, standing in a long sleeveless wool dress, the pendant around her throat reflecting the light from the bonfire. She was a distance away and the specific features of her face were hard to distinguish, but she quickly moved back to the open doorway. “The dark lord is here!”
Voices sounded from deeper in the house, a cacophony of excitement.
“He heard our voice in the flames!”
I nodded back toward the path, silently telling Lily to continue our journey and leave these sycophants behind.
“Why do they worship you?” she asked.
“I couldn’t say.”
“These are the admirers you sleep with?” Her voice wasn’t accusatory because she wasn’t the jealous or insecure type.
“The admirers that Isleptwith, yes. But you’ve seen the options back at the castle. I’m not into bestiality.”
“You don’t have to justify it. I was just wondering.”
